Nut-castellating machine



L. BARBER AND E. L. FlLSON.

NUT CASTELLATING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JULY I2, I920.

Patented Au 9, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

BARBER AND E. L. FILSON.

"NUT CASTELLATING MACHINE- APPLICATION FILED JULY 121 I920- 387,092; I PatentedAug. 9, 1921.

. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

27v 'fl L. BARBER AND E. L. FILSON.

NUT CASTELLATING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 1;. 1920.

1,387,092. Patented Aug. 9, 1921.

3SHEETSSHEET 3.

V of Ohio,

UNITED STATES Farms car es. I

LOUIS BARBER AND EMMETT L. FILSO-N, 0F CLEVELAND, OHIO, ns'srcnons O THE NATIONAL SCREW AND TACK COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, oHIan CORPORATION OF OHIO.

NUT-CASTELLATIN G MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 12, 1920. Serial No. 395,664.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, LOUIS BARBER and EMMETT L. FILsoN, citizens of the United States, andresidents, respectively, of Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State and Cleveland in the county of Cuyahoga and State of hio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Nut-Castellating Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to a nut castellating machine and has for its chief object to provide an improved castellating machine wherein the slots are punched in the flange of the nut blank from the" periphery of the flan e inward.

ore specific objects are to provide a machine of this character which is simple in construction, rapid in operation, and one having a construction such that the feature of durability" is obtained to a maximum degree, and smoothness of operation is secured in the way of freedom from clogging and the like.

In the machine constituting the subject matter of this invention the nut blanks are fed from a magazine to a rotatable indexing plate having an opening into which the nut blank fits, the blanks being moved through the action of a pusher bar carrying a die which has a slot to accommodate the punch which reciprocates above it, the movement of the pusher rod and die being suflicient to move the blank into the opening of the indexing plate and to carry the end of the die which projects beyond the nut blank into a suitable groove of an anvil on which the end of the die is supported during the series of strokes'of the punch, usually six in number, the indexing plate and blank being turned through a fraction of a revolution after each slot is punched.

The punchings passthrough the slot of the die and through the anvil, and thus pass below the operating mechanism, and after the requisite number of slots have been punched in the blanks the pusher bar and die are retracted and the nut is shifted from ,the indexing plate and is stripped ofl the die, should it have a tendency to stick to the same, and falls down between the in dexing plate and the magazine and thus passesfrom the machine.

The invention may be-briefly summarized as consisting in certain combinations of features of a machine constructed to operate as above described, and in certain novel details of construction, all of which will be described in the specification and set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying sheets of drawings wherein we have shown an embodiment of the invention which operates with very high efficiency, Figurel is a View partly in side elevation and partly in section, showing the operating mechanism of the machine with the exception ofthe upper part of the punch press, the details of which are not. material to the present invention. In this, figure the nut is supported by the die in the indexing plate in position for punching; Fig. 2 is a view looking toward the punch and toward Patented Aug. 9, 1 921.

the indexing plate from the frontof the machine with the magazine and operating lever'removed; Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the major portion of the operating mechanism which is beneath the-punch, the rotary indexing plate and the plate holder being in section; Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the principal parts of the operating meche anlsm shown at the central part of Fig. 1,

with the pusher rod anddie retracted or in 7 position to receive a nut blank from the bottom of the magazine; Fig. 5 is an inside face view of the lower showing particularly the stripper fingers part of the magazine which on the retraction of the push'errod strip the castellated nut blank from the die; Fig. 6'is atop plan view of the anvil which supports the end of the die while the series of slots are being punchedin the nut blank; and Fig. 7 is an end view of the same as it appears'when viewed'from the front part of the machine.

1 Our improvements are porated in a' punch press and the details of which which directly concern the invention, are immaterial. It will besuflicient to say, so far as the punch press is concerned, that it includes a bolster plate 10 which is bolted to a base or preferably incor of 'standard form, aside from those,

body 11, andincludes also an upstanding portion 12' with suitable 'guideways indicated at 13 in 2, to accommo date the vertically reciprocating ram o'r'slide 14 at the bottonrof which is a punch holder.

15 carrying a punch 16, the lower end 16* of whichis'of a'width corresponding to the width of the slots which are to be punched in the nut blanks. Additionally the upper part of the press, not shown, will be provided with the usual means for reciprocating the slide, and with the usual clutch by which the operation of the machine is started and sto ped.

ecured to the front of the machine by a suitable bracket 17 is a vertical magazine or chute 18 having a slot into which the nut blanks shown at 19 can be placed in any suitable manner as by hand. The bracket 17 which supports the magazine is secured to the front part of the bolster plate and bed of the press in any suitable manner as by nuts 20 which allow the height of the magazine to be slightly varied to permit relative adjustment necessary for smooth operation.

Secured to the bolster plate 10 at the rear of the magazine and beneath the punch 16 is a block 21, at the front of which is suitably secured a holder 22 for a rotary indexing plate 23, at the center of which is an opening 23 corresponding in shape and size to the outline or size of the nut blank to be castellated so that the blank can be pushed into the far side of the opening in the manner hereinafter explained, and so that as the plate is indexed it will rotate the nut blank with it. The front part of the opening 23*, 2'. 6., the part of the opening extending toward the front face of the index plate, is enlarged on a taper, as clearly indicated in Fig. 1, so that the nut blanks can be pushed into the plate from the front thereof, but the opening at the rear face of the plate is horizontal and of a size only very slightly in excess of the size of the nut blank which is generally hexagonal. The manner in which the plate 23 is indexed will be explained presently.

Secured to the block 21 a short distance at the rear of the index plate 23 and its holder 22, is a so-called anvil 24 (see Figs. 1, 4, 6 and 7 Extending centrally through this anvil is a groove-25, the front part of which, designated 25, is horizontal, and at the bottom half round in shape, this part of the slot corresponding in shape and size to the lower part of the die to be next described, and serving as a support for its forward end during the punching operations. The bot tom portion of the remainder of the slot 25 of the anvil, here designated 25", is inclined downward, and it is down this incline that the punchings slide.

At the lower part of the magazine 18, and directly in line with the central opening 23 of the indexing plate there is a horizontal opening 26, preferably hexagonal in crosssection, and slidable through this opening is a pusher rod 27, also hexagonal in shape. Secured at the front end of this pusher rod is a die 28 which may be and preferably is cylindrical in outline, and is provided at its forward end with a vertical slot 28" to accommodate the lower end 16 of the punch. This pusher rod and the die may be moved horizontally in any suitable manner, 2'. 0., either automatically or manually, but in this instance they are adapted to be shifted by a hand lever 29 connected by a swivel block 29 to the pusher rod, and connected by a pivoted link 30 to an extension 31 of the frame of the press, which extension may be a part of the bracket 17. The lower end of the lever is connected to a rod 32 which is surrounded by a coil spring 33, the function of which is to hold the lever in the position shown in Fig. 1, i. a, in its forward position.

By the retraction of the lever 29 the pusher rod 27 and die 28 are moved backward beyond the vertical slot in the chute or magazine'lS, so that the lowermost blank may drop into the opening 26 in front of the die. Then as the lever 29 is moved inward, the die enters the bore of the nut blank and is carried forwardly into the opening of the indexing plate 23, and when the lever comes to rest the forward slotted end of the die rests on the anvil 24:. The parts remain in this position, as already stated, during the six strokes of the punch, and after each punching operation the indexing plate and nut blank are turned through one-sixth of a revolution. This in dcxing is accomplished by mechanism operated by the slide or ram of the press, each indexing movement being given to the indexing plate and blank on the downward stroke of the slice or plunger, and before the punch engages the flange of the nut blank to be slotted.

The indexing mechanism illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 4, includes a vertically movable piece 34, which is secured to the ram or slide of the press. As this piece descends it engages roller 35 (see Fig. 4:) carried by a lever 36 pivoted on a stud 37 carried by a block 38 on the bolster plate 10 of the press. This lever is provided at its lower inner end with a finger 39 having a notched free end adapted to engage forwardly projecting pins 40 on the front face of the indexing plate. The rocking movement imparted to the lever on the downward stroke of the plunger of the press imparts a part rocking and part horizontal stroke to the finger 39 of an extent sufficient to move the indexing plate through one-sixth of a revolution or to give it an arcuate movement equal to the distance between the adjacent pins 40. On the upstroke of the plunger of the press, the parts 36 and 39 of the indexing plate shifting mechanism are returned to normal position shown in Fig. 2 by a coil spring 4L1, the finger 39 being returned to a position such that the notched end thereof will just engage over the next 7 pin adjacent to that which it previously engaged, so that on the next down stroke of the plunger this finger will be in position to again step the indexing plate forward one-sixth of a revolution.

After the indexing plate has thus been shifted it is held in precisely the desired ppsition with the upper and lower faces of the nut blank being operated on exactly horizontal, and this is accomplished in a simple but very effective manner by a pivoted holding finger 42 (see Fig. 2) which when in normal positionis vertical and engagestwo of the indexing pins 40, as shown in'Fig. 2. This holding finger is pressed yieldingly against the pins 40 by a coil spring 43 which is connected toan extension 42 of the finger, and to a stationary part of the press.

After the sixpunching strokes of the punch during which a nut blank is castellated, the pusher rod 27 and the die 28 are moved back by means of the lever 29, so that the castellated nut will be discharged from the machine and so that a new nut may then on the next forward stroke be moved to punching position.

In the present machine we have provided means for preventing the nutrsticking to the die 28 and from being carried back into the opening at the lower part of the magazine. Likewise we have provided means for preventing the nut blank remaining in the opening of the indexing plate after the pusher rod and die are retracted. To prevent the nut blank being carried back into the magazine with the die 28 we provide on the rear side of the magazine a pair of stripper fingers 44 which are pivoted at 45, and at their upper ends are yieldingly pressed apart by a coil spring 46. Near the lower ends of these stripper fingers are tapered V-shaped notches 44 which yieldingly embrace opposite corners of the hexagonal pusher bar when the latter is in its forward position, the lower ends of the fingers being slightly spread apart as the nut blank on the die and pusher bar pass between them, but on the return stroke of the pusher bar should the nut blank stick to the die it is stripped off the latter by these stripper fingers, and that this may be done, the extreme forward end of the pusher bar is slightly tapered, as shown at 27 so that theyield able stripper fingers can engage behind the approaching nut and wipe it off the die.

To prevent a nut blank after it is castellated remaining in the opening of the indexing plate when the pusher bar and die are retracted, we provide a so-called knock-out composed of a comparatively thin front plate 47 which is just in front of the anvil, a rear plate or cross-bar48, and a pair of horizontal connecting bolts 49 which slide through horizontal openings 50 (see Fig. 6)

in the anvil. This knock-out has a range" of movement such that the front plate 47 thereof may move a given amount between the anvil and the indexing plate, or from the position shown in Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 2. This plate is notched at nuts. as they are thus discharged from they machine.

The knock-out is moved toward the front of the machine when the lever 29 is retracted by mechanism including a rod 51 which is connected at 52 to the lever 29 and extends through the block 21, and at its rear end has a connection with a lever 58 whose upper end is forked and engages a laterally projecting pin 54 on a sliding bar 55 which moves back and forth in a guide or holder 56. This bar 55 is behind the center or rear plate 48 of the knock-out. The parts are so arranged that as the lever 29 is retracted, the bar 55 engages the knock-out and moves it toward the front of the machine, this being the movement which forces a blank from the indexing plate as just stated. On the forward stroke of the lever 29 a spring 57 which surrounds the rod 51 moves the arm and bar 55 rearward, and the nut which is being advanced with the die and plunger into the indexing plate description, but the operation thereof may be briefly described as follows:

When the machine is in operation the punch is reciprocated rapidly and continuously and the nut blanks are continuously supplied in the magazine by the operator. Likewise the operator after six successive and rapid strokes of the punch pulls back on the lever and then allows it to move forward, this movement carrying the blank from the magazine past the stripper fingers into the opening of the indexing plate, and when the die and pusher rod come to rest the end which projects beyond the blank rests on the forward part ofv the anvil. The parts remain in this position during the six strokes of the punch necessary to castellate the nut, it being understood that the plate is indexed one-sixth of a revolution just preceding each stroke. l/Vhen the nut has been fully castellated the operator pulls back onthe lever, whereupon the castellated ceptacle and another blank is brought forward and is castellated. As the pusher rod and die are retracted, the knock out is moved forward and the front plate 47 thereof pushes the blank out of the index plate, and if the nut has a tendency to stick to, the die it is stripped ofi the same by the stripper fingers on the rear side of the magazine.

As before stated, these operations are carried on continuously and steadily, and there is rarely an occasion to stop the operation during the period that the machine is intended to be in operation. This desirable characteristic is obtained because the simplicity of the machine eliminates the necessity for making repairs except at rare intervals, and because the operation of the machine is not clogged or obstructed by castellated nuts or punchings.

It will be understood that suitable changes will be made in the magazine to accommodate nuts of diiierent sizes, and that indexing plates with different sizes of openings and punches of different sizes will be provided for the different sizes of nut blanks to be castellated.

While we have shown a construction which has proven by practice to be eflicient and economical, we do not wish to be confined to the precise details of construction or the precise mode of operation, and aim in our claims to cover all modifications which do not involve a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Having described our invention, we claim:

1. In a nut castellating machine, a punch, a rotary holder for a nut blank, an endwise movable blank carrier having a die at its end for moving the blank into the rotary holder, said die adapted to enter the bore of the blank and having a slot to accommodate the end of the punch.

2. In a nut castellating machine, a punch, a rotary holder for a nut blank, an endwise movable blank carrier having a die at its end for moving the blank into the rotary holder, said die adapted to enter the bore of the blank and having a slot to accommodate the end of the punch, and means for automatically rotating the holder and blank about the axis of the die between successive punching operations.

3. In a nut castellating machine, a punch, a rotary holder for a blank, a stationary anvil, an endwise movable blank carrier hav ing a die at its end formoving a blank into the holder and for positioning'the end of the die on the anvil, said die having dimensions such that it will enter the bore of the blank and project beyond the same.

4. In a nut castellating machine, a punch, a stationary magazine, a rotary nut blank holder, an-endwise movable blank carrier having a die at its end for moving a blank from the magazine to the rotary holder with the blank surrounding the die, and a support on which the end of the die rests during the punching operations.

5. In a nut castellating machine, a punch, a, stationary magazine, a rotary nut blank holder, a stationary die support, a die adapted to enter the bore of a nut, and a carrier for the die movable so as to carry a blank while surrounding the die from the magazine into the rotary holder and to position the end of the die on the die support.

6. In a nut castellating machine, a punch, a rotary holder for a nut blank, an endwise movable blank carrier having a die at its end for moving the blank into the rotary holder, said die adapted to enter the bore of the blank and having a slot to accommodate the end of the punch, and means for automatically stripping the blank from the die on the retraction of the carrier and die.

7. In a nut castellating machine, a punch, a rotary holder for a blank, a stationary anvil, an endwise movable blank carrier having a die at its end for moving a blank into tie holder and for positioning the end. of the die on the anvil, said die having dimensions such that it will enter the bore of the blank and project beyond the same, and means for automatically stripping the blank from the die on the retraction of the carrier and die.

8. In a nut castellating machine, a punch, a rotary holder for a nut blank, an endwise movable blank carrier having a die at its end for moving the blank into the rotary holder, said die adapted to enter the bore of the blank and having a slot to accommodate the end of the punch, and means for extracting the blank from the holder when the carrier and die are retracted.

9. In a nut castellating machine, a punch, a rotary holder for a blank, a stationary anvil, an endwise movable blank carrier having a die at its end for moving a blank into the holder and for positioning the end of the die on the anvil, said die having dimensions such that it will enter the bore of the blank and project beyond the same, and means for extracting the blank from the holder when the carrier and die are retracted.

10. In a nut castellating machine, a punch, a rotary nut blank holder having an opening corresponding in shape to the blank, an endwise movable die adapted to enter the bore of a blank, an anvil adapted to support the end of the die during the punching operations, and means for turning the holder and blank between successive punching operations.

11. Ina nut castellatingmachine, a punch, a rotary nut blank holder having an opening corresponding in shape to the blank, an

endwise movable die adapted to enter the bore of a blank, and a carrier therefor for moving the blank into the rotary holder, means for turning the holder and blank be tween successive punching operations, and

means for supporting the end of the die While the blank is in the holder.

12. In a nut castellating machine, a punch,-

and to project beyond the blank, and an 10 In testimony whereof, We hereunto aflix 15 our signatures.

LOUIS BARBER. EMMETT L. FILSON. 

